Air conditioner



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w. E. BURGEss 2,469,259

v AIR CONDITIONER Filed Feb. '7, 194e 2 sheets-Sheet 2 ,WVM

Patented May 3, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,469,259 A1BCONDITIONER William E. lurgess, New Queens Le- Application February '7,1946, Serial No. 646,108

(C1. @geniaal l, Claim This invention relates, to air Conditioners andhas for its object to provide a comparatively Simple and inexpensivedeviee of this ellaraeter that may be quickly installed f or domesticuse or positioned in an automobile or other con- Voyance for eithercooling or heating the air.

A further object of the invention is to provide an air conditioner inwhich a quantity oi liquid iS caused to continuously elreulate in neasing over a cooling Surface to chill the liquid, fresh nir being drawnin at one end of the easing and cooled by the. liquid before the ,nir isdisentir-sed at the other end of said casing.

A further object is toy provide the air conditioner with a motor drivenpump or impeller for circulating the cooling liquid and further to profvide a fan for inducing a flow of air through a central conductor and incontact with spaced tubes connecting the liquid containers whereby theair is thoroughly cooled by the time it reaches the discharge end ofsaid central conf ductor.

A still further object of the invention is generall'y to improve thisclass of devices so as to increase their utility, durability andefficiency.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification andwhich similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in allthe gures o f the drawings:

Figure l is a horizontal sectional View of an air conditioner embodyingthe present invention and showing the device supported in a horizontalplane,

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of lFigure1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the exit pipe showing themanner of controlling the discharge of either cooled or heated airtherefrom, and

Figure 4 is a side elevation showing the device attached to the engineof an automobile and supported in a vertical plane.

The improved air conditioner forming the subject-matter of the presentinvention may be installed in either a vertical or horizontal positionand used either for cooling or heating pur poses, and in Figure 1 of thedrawings, the device is shown supported in a horizontal position andused for cooling or chilling air prior to the discharge thereof into theinterior of the room of a dwelling or other building.

The air conditioner comprises a casing or housing li which may be eithercylindrical or angular in cross section and is provided at its outer endwith an opening 6 adapted to receive a central air conductor, indicatedat 1.

Disposed within the casing 5 on opposite sides of the central airconductor 1 are spaced containers 8 and 9 preferably extending theentire length of said casing and adapted to contain suitablenon-freezing liquid, indicated at lil. ranged at the rear of the casing5 and communieating with the interior of the containers and Q throughopenings l l is an auxiliary container or header l2 having its opposite.ends provided with filling nipples I3 normally closed by detachableClosure eens lill Se that by removing? the dans I4 the eenling liquidmay be poured into the auxin lary Container or header l2- Tlireeded inthe ends of the oeps I4 are deteelieble eerew plugs i4 which are removedwhen the air conditioner iS used ln eouneetion with en automobile.

Disposed Withi the liquid Containers. kll and 9 and spaced from theadjacent walls thereof are Ine-taille. .containers l5 adapted, toreeeive e suitable refrigerant, .Suele es artificial or natural ice, forthe purpose of Cooling the liquid ,llly which lieuidy in turn, eools theair, es will be more fully explained heren-.leiten Extending throughsuiteble peeking glands lli in. the easing and outer wall of the headerl2 is a shaft l1, the inner end of yWillen ,is operatively unconnectedwith a suitable eleeti-ie motor lil whiell Serves to rotate saidy shaft.Disposed within the auxiliary container or header l2 and mounted on theshaft Il is a pump or impeller i9, the purpose of which is to circulatethe fluid lll through the easing and in .Contact with the chilled wallsof the containers l5 thereby to keep the liquid at a suineiently lowtemperature to insure proper Cooling of the air. The containers il and 9are connected by a plurality of spaced tubes v2li which extendtransversely of the central conductor 1 and form a source or come.munication between the interior of said containers so as to permit theliquid to flow from one container to the other when the pump is inoperation. The containers l5 are provided with lling nipples 2l throughwhich said containers i5 may be filled with any kind of refrigerant,said nipples being provided with closure caps 22 of any suitableconstruction.

Air is admitted to the central conductor 'I through a pipe 23, one endof which is open to the atmosphere while the other end thereofcommunicates with the interior of the conductor l, as best shown inFigure 1 of the drawings. A fan blade 24 is secured to the inner end ofthe shaft I1 for the purpose of drawing air inwardly through the pipe 23and inducing a flow of air longitudinally within the conductor 1 to thedischarge end thereof. A pipe 25 is secured to the outer end of theconductor 1 for delivering cooled air to any desired place within a roomor other' enclosure. Interposed between the casing 5 and the containers8 and 9 is a packing 26 of insulating material and this insulatingmaterial preferably extends entirely around the casing so as tothoroughly insulate the same. The outer ends of the refrigerantcontainers l5 are spaced from the outer ends of the liquid containers toform passages 21 so as to permit the cooling fluid to flow around theends of said refrigerant containers.

In operation the header I2 and containers 8 and 9 are filled with asuitable non-freezing liquid through the nipples I3 of said header andthe containers I5 lled with Dry Ice, natural ice, or other refrigerantthrough the nipples 2|. The motor I8 is then started which causes thepump I 9 to circulate the cooling liquid through the adjacent opening IIand thence around the refrigerant container I5 in one of the liquidcontainers and thence through the tubes 20 to the interior of the othercontainer 8 and back through the opening II to the pump, thus causing acontinuous circulation of the cooling liquid within the casing. Duringthe rotation of the motor the fan 24 will draw air through the pipe 23and as the current of air passes through the conductor 'I it will comein contact with the tubes 20 and become thoroughly chilled before theair is discharged through the end of the conductor 'I into the interiorof a room. As the cooling fluid surrounds the walls of the centralconductor l and said fluid also circulates through the tubes 20, anextended cooling surface is presented to the now of air through theconductor thereby insuring thorough chilling of the air, as will bereadily understood.

For use when the climate and temperature are such that warm air ratherthan cold air is desired, there is provided an electric heating element39 which may be fixed to the walls of the conductor 'I in the opening 6.Wire conductors 4I] connect the heating element 39 to a source ofelectric supply for heating the element 39.

In Figure 4 of the drawings, there is illustrated a modied form of theinvention in which the device is used for heating the tonneau of anautof mobile. In this form of the invention, the device is supported ina vertical plane and operatively connected with the water jacket 28 ofthe automobile engine by means of upper and lower pipes 29 and 3D, oneof which is threaded in the upper nipple 3| of the header and the otherin the lower nipple 32 after removing the closure plugs I4 shown inFigure 1. It will thus be seen that hot water from the jacket 28 of theengine will enter the header through the pipe 29 and thence iow withinone of the liquid containers 33 and through the spaced connecting tubes34 to the other container and back to the water jacket through the pipe30 thereby to heat the walls of the central air conductor 35 so that airilowing through said conductor and coming in contact with said heatedwalls and with the tubes 34 will be thoroughly heated and delivered intothe tonneau of the automobile in a warm condition.

When using the device on an automobile, I preferably provide theextension pipe 25 with one or more discharge nipples 36, the upper endof each of which is closed by a perforated plate 3l, the discharge ofthe air through the perforations in the plates being controlled bysliding cut off plates or dampers, indicated at 38.

It will, of course, be understood that the air conditioners may be madein diierent sizes and shapes and formed of any suitable material withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

An air conditioner comprising an outer casing open at one end and havingan insulating lining, a pair of refrigerant liquid containers in saidcasing extending along the length thereof and spaced apart transverselyof said casing forming an air conductor therebetween opening through theopen end of said casing, refrigerant containers in each of said liquidcontainers spaced from the Walls thereof providing liquid conductingpassages about the refrigerant containers, a header at the closed end ofsaid casing connecting said liquid containers and extending throughopposite side walls of said casing, tubes between said spaced liquidcontainers extending across said air conductor, an air inlet pipethrough a side wall ci said conditioner at the closed end communicatingwith said air conductor, a ian in said air conductor for iowing the airbetween said liquid containers and over said tubes and means forcirculating the liquid through said liquid containers, said tubes andsaid header.

WILLIAM E. BURGESS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS are of record in the

